Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 180: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the steps he is taking to ensure a €30 saving on the household benefit package in 2011. [47549/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is currently reviewing the relevant schemes with a view to maximising the opportunities presented by greater competition in the energy and telecommunications sectors in terms of value for money.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 181: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the way in which he intends to reform rent supplement to yield savings of €60m in 2011. [47551/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation, whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. Since 2005 the number of individuals in receipt of a rent supplement payment has increased from 60,176 to over 97,000 today. During the same period expenditure on the scheme has increased from some €368 million in 2005 to an estimated €509 million in 2010.

In the coming months my Department will be initiating a number of reforms to the rent supplement schemes in order to generate savings of €60 million in the next year. These reforms include entering discussions with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with a view to aligning more closely the minimum contribution with the local authority differential rent scheme; reviewing entitlement of people who refuse local authority housing; the reduction of payments made to landlords with a corresponding reduction in rent limits, where appropriate; and increased control activities.

The introduction of a €2 differential between the rate of basic supplementary welfare allowance and other schemes from January 2011 will generate over €10 million in savings in the rent and mortgage interest schemes. These will arise as entitlement to rent and mortgage interest supplement is based on the weekly rates of basic supplementary welfare allowance. Pensioners, carers and people on basic supplementary welfare allowance will not be affected by this change.